The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid Baptisia plant, botanically known as Baptisia ‘Royal Purple’ and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Royal Purple’. The new cultivar represents a new false indigo, an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
The new invention arose from an ongoing breeding program in a dedicated test plot in Glencoe, Ill. The objective of the breeding program is to develop novel interspecific hybrids of Baptisia that exhibit unique flower coloration, hybrid vigor, ease of clonal propagation, and desirable plant habits.
‘Royal Purple’ was selected as a single unique plant by the Inventor in 2009 after evaluating seedlings that derived from a cross made in 2004 between unnamed plants of hybrid Baptisia from the Inventor's breeding program. The female parent was a seedling that derived from open pollination of an interspecific hybrid Baptisia (australis×leucophaea). The male parent was a seedling that derived from open pollination of an interspecific hybrid Baptisia (australis×sphaerocarpa).
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem shoot tip cuttings in July of 2009 in Glencoe, Ill. under the direction of the Inventor. Asexual propagation by stem shoot tip cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.